Watson must get the best out of the World No.1 to have a chance of victory in the Ryder Cup.
Amid all the hype and hoopla of the Ryder Cup One Year to Go events at Gleneagles, the most important message concerned Tiger Woods. American captain Tom Watson deliberately went out of his way to boost his best player.
In the past, Watson was not slow to criticise Woods when he stepped out of line and tarnished his own image and that of the game of golf. At Gleneagles, he praised him as he favourably compared Woods with Jack Nicklaus.
Tom is well aware that he must get the best out the World No.1 to have a successful Ryder Cup. Woods has a decent record on his own in singles, but he doesn’t seem to be quite the same force in foursomes and fourballs. The message from his captain is that he must accept the responsibility of being the team’s on-course leader.
It was part of the mind games being played by both Tom and European skipper Paul McGinley, as Paul chipped in by saying that Europe had Ian Poulter!
Having Watson in charge seems to have been a masterstroke from the PGA of America. One of his biggest jobs was to market the match across the Atlantic despite the USA’s recent losing record, and he’s done that perfectly. Tom is such a big name that people listen to him. And it helps with the match being in Scotland where he is loved for all his Open success.
He’s an intelligent guy and you’d expect him to make the right decisions. He won’t put Woods out last as Curtis Strange did at The Belfry in 2002!
The one disadvantage is his age. At 64, Tom won’t be at the regular PGA Tour events every week like past captains Paul Azinger and Davis Love III. He’ll be watching TV and reading the newspapers, and he’ll be a long-distance captain. It will be hard for him to get to know the younger guys coming through, like Jordan Spieth, and he’ll rely on vice-captain Andy North, who works as a TV commentator.
But I guarantee that Tom will have a close eye on the Presidents Cup in Ohio this week. A lot of those players will be in Scotland in 12 months and he’ll want to see how captain Fred Couples pairs them up. While it’s probably too early to think about the make-up of the team, believe me it’s never too early to think about your pairings!
We’re a year away and again it looks too close to call. The teams are so closely matched. Home advantage doesn’t count for too much, and the match will probably be decided again by the narrowest of margins. That’s the beauty of the Ryder Cup.
People, who don’t watch golf normally, are glued to their TV screens. And I’m certain it’ll be exactly the same when we tee off at Gleneagles.
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